German Version
In Germany, two versions of the single were issued: the normal version, and an alternate version marked "Deutsche version, Gesangssolist Paul" (German version, lead vocals by Paul) on the cover, which shows a photo of a man wearing a matador's hat. The identity of "Paul" has never been revealed. This version is unusual in that the German language vocal does not replace the original, but is sung over top of the English version, which can be heard clearly underneath. It was obviously not made with access to the original multi-track session tapes, which raises the question as to whether Oldfield or Virgin Records UK approved it.
In the 1970s and 1980s, it was rumoured that this version was produced by Edgar Froese of Tangerine Dream, but no such credit appears on the label, and this rumour is now regarded as someone's wild guess, based on Froese being Virgin's most prominent German recording artist at the time. To this day, nothing is known for certain about who "Paul" was, who produced it, whether Virgin Records UK knew of or approved its recording, and if not, how Virgin Records Germany got away with releasing it.
According to the official homepage of the band Agitation Free, the vocalist was Roland "Rolli" Paulick. Paulick was part of the line-up of Tangerine Dream's first LP. At the time of the recording of Don Alfonso, Edgar Froese was producer and friend of Tangerine Dream and Paulik.
Listeners may find this record to be even funnier than the English version, because of Paul's bombastic delivery, in contrast to Bedford's subtle music hall voice. Also, some profane Humpa-music was dubbed over the original music track.
Read more about this topic: Don Alfonso (song)
Famous quotes containing the words german and/or version:
“Frankly, I do not like the idea of conversations to define the term “unconditional surrender.” ... The German people can have dinned into their ears what I said in my Christmas Eve speech—in effect, that we have no thought of destroying the German people and that we want them to live through the generations like other European peoples on condition, of course, that they get rid of their present philosophy of conquest.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Deuteronomy 5:15.
See Exodus 22:8 for a different version of this fourth commandment.